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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Maurice MorelMixed media drawingvia Sacred Art MeditationsO Holy Night!The stars are brightly shining,It is the night of our dear Saviours birth;Long lay the world in sin and error pining, 'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;Fall on your knees,Oh, hear the angels voices!O night divine, O night when Christ was born!O night, O holy night,O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand;So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,Here came the wise men from Orient land.The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,In all our trials born to be our Friend;He knows our need, To our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;His law is love and His gospel is peace; Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,And in His name all oppression shall cease.Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,Let all within us praise His holy name;Christ is the Lord,Oh, praise His name forever!His powr and glory evermore proclaim!His powr and glory evermore proclaim!Merry Christmas,from our home to yours, dear ones.

Monday, December 24, 2012

"Advent is about learning to wait. It is about not having to know exactly what is coming tomorrow, only that whatever it is, it is of the essence of sanctification for us. Every piece of it, some hard, some uplifiting, is sign of the work of God alive in us. We are becoming as we go. We learn in Advent to stay in the present, knowing that only the present well lived can possibly lead us to the fullness of life." (Chittister)

During Advent I'll forego my weekly Buy More Art posts in order to share almost-daily meditations of Scripture, hymns, and art reflecting the alternate narrative and subversive time of waiting in hope for the Christ who came, the Christ who will come again and the Christ now among us.Won't you join me?

Luke 1:39-45

English Standard Version (ESV)

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Luke 1:57-66English Standard Version (ESV)The Birth of John the Baptist

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

“My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,and holy is his name.50 And his mercy is for those who fear himfrom generation to generation.51 He has shown strength with his arm;he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;52 he has brought down the mighty from their thronesand exalted those of humble estate;53 he has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent away empty.54 He has helped his servant Israel,in remembrance of his mercy,55 as he spoke to our fathers,to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

The AnnunciationDaniel Bonnell

Mary's SongBlue homespun and the bend of my breastkeep warm this small hot naked starfallen to my arms. (Rest...you who have had so farto come.) Now nearness satisfiesthe body of God sweetly. Quiet he lieswhose vigor hurleda universe. He sleepswhose eyelids have not closed before.His breath (so slight it seemsno breath at all) once ruffled the dark deepsto sprout a world.Charmed by doves' voices, the whisper of straw,he dreams,hearing no music from his other spheres.Breath, mouth, ears, eyeshe is curtailedwho overflowed all skies,all years.Older than eternity, now heis new. Now native to earth as I am, nailedto my poor planet, caught that I might be free,blind in my womb to know my darkness ended,brought to this birthfor me to be new-born,and for him to see me mendedI must seen him torn.-- Luci Shaw

Sunday, December 23, 2012

"Advent is about learning to wait. It is about not having to know exactly what is coming tomorrow, only that whatever it is, it is of the essence of sanctification for us. Every piece of it, some hard, some uplifiting, is sign of the work of God alive in us. We are becoming as we go. We learn in Advent to stay in the present, knowing that only the present well lived can possibly lead us to the fullness of life." (Chittister)

During Advent I'll forego my weekly Buy More Art posts in order to share almost-daily meditations of Scripture, hymns, and art reflecting the alternate narrative and subversive time of waiting in hope for the Christ who came, the Christ who will come again and the Christ now among us.Won't you join me?Fourth Sunday of Advent:

"In the first centuries the Church had a beautiful custom of praying seven great prayers calling afresh on Christ to come, calling him by the mysterious titles he has in Isaiah, calling to him; O Wisdom. O Root! O Key, O Light! come to us!" (Malcolm Guite)

December 23 - O Emmanuel (God With Us)

Isaiah 7:14:

"The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel."

Matthew 1:23:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.”

O Emmanuel re-written by Malcolm Guite

O come, O come, and be our God-with-usO long-sought With-ness for a world without,O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken NameCome Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,O quickened little wick so tightly curled,Be folded with us into time and place,Unfold for us the mystery of graceAnd make a womb of all this wounded world.O heart of heaven beating in the earth,O tiny hope within our hopelessnessCome to be born, to bear us to our birth,To touch a dying world with new-made handsAnd make these rags of time our swaddling bands.

"I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving powers. Our temptation is to be distracted by them. When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence ... I will always remain tempted to despair." -- Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen, Gracias! A Latin American Journal - 1983 (via Diary of An Arts Pastor)

Saturday, December 22, 2012

"Advent is about learning to wait. It is about not having to know exactly what is coming tomorrow, only that whatever it is, it is of the essence of sanctification for us. Every piece of it, some hard, some uplifiting, is sign of the work of God alive in us. We are becoming as we go. We learn in Advent to stay in the present, knowing that only the present well lived can possibly lead us to the fullness of life." (Chittister)

During Advent I'll forego my weekly Buy More Art posts in order to share almost-daily meditations of Scripture, hymns, and art reflecting the alternate narrative and subversive time of waiting in hope for the Christ who came, the Christ who will come again and the Christ now among us.Won't you join me?Third Saturday of Advent:

"In the first centuries the Church had a beautiful custom of praying seven great prayers calling afresh on Christ to come, calling him by the mysterious titles he has in Isaiah, calling to him; O Wisdom. O Root! O Key, O Light! come to us!" (Malcolm Guite)

December 22 - O Emmanuel (O King of the Gentiles, O King of All the Nations)

Genesis 12:1-3:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Isaiah 2:4:

"He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again."

Revelation 15:3:

"And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways,O King of the nations!"

O Rex Gentium re-written by Malcolm Guite

O King of our desire whom we despise,King of the nations never on the throne,Unfound foundation, cast-off cornerstone,Rejected joiner, making many one,You have no form or beauty for our eyes,A King who comes to give away his crown,A King within our rags of flesh and bone.We pierce the flesh that pierces our disguise,For we ourselves are found in you alone.Come to us now and find in us your throne,O King within the child within the clay,O hidden King who shapes us in the playOf all creation. Shape us for the dayYour coming Kingdom comes into its own.(Listen to the author's reading of this sonnet.)

"I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving powers. Our temptation is to be distracted by them. When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence ... I will always remain tempted to despair." -- Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen, Gracias! A Latin American Journal (1983)

Tamara Hill Murphy

I am Tamara Murphy: born and raised in a cynical, smalltown Northeast still harboring a penchant for hope and big ideas. Now I live in the bright city of Austin, Texas with my audacious and often-homesick family: two daughters, two sons, one husband.

I believe in the power of the written word. I read and write words to make friends with the ancient, present and future. I write to encourage both you and me to see God's presence through daily practices of art, liturgy and relationship.